Batteries are used in a wide range of motor vehicle applications. For example, the desire to improve fuel economy and reduce the amount of pollutants emitted by vehicles has led to the development of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) incorporating sophisticated battery systems.
There are several different types of HEVs. Parallel HEVs use both an internal combustion engine (ICE) and an electric motor to propel the vehicle, while serial HEVs use an electric motor to propel the vehicle and the ICE to generate electrical energy and run the electric motor. In a third type of HEV, known as a “start/stop” HEV, the ICE propels the vehicle and the electrical system is used to operate the vehicle when the vehicle is stationary. The ICE then restarts when the vehicle starts to move.
Common to all types of HEVs is a battery that undergoes various charge and discharge cycles as the battery powers the vehicle and/or vehicular components. It is important to know the state of the battery as expressed by the state of charge (SOC) of the battery. In order to make decisions regarding the battery, such as when to actively charge the battery, it is important to know the SOC of the battery.
Different methods have been developed to determine the SOC. One method to determine the SOC is based upon the use of an equivalent circuit of a battery system to model the battery. The equivalent circuit that models the battery accounts for factors such as the surface charge on the plates of the battery. Such a method and system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,639,385, entitled “State of Charge Method and Apparatus,” issued on Oct. 28, 2003, and U.S. Publication No. U.S. 2004/0162683, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Generalized Recursive Least-Squares Process for Battery State of Charge and State of Health,” filed Feb. 8, 2003. While prior equivalent circuits provide an effective model for determining the SOC of the battery, more accurate models are desirable. Further, while methods and apparatus such as has been described in the related application noted above have improved modeling of the diffusion inherent in battery systems, the time required to execute such models, especially estimating the initial diffusion voltage needed for such calculations, has been longer than desired. In automotive applications, it is important that the initial diffusion voltage be obtainable quickly so that the SOC may be rapidly determined.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide method and apparatus for more rapidly determining an initial diffusion voltage for use in modeling an electrochemical system, especially a battery system for us in electric vehicles. Furthermore, the desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will be apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.